Hanging separator to be used for separating articles of clothing hanging in a clothes closet, and a plurality of hanging separators forming a system for separating articles of clothing hanging in a clothes closet

ABSTRACT

A clothing separator is disclosed that can be readily hung upon a horizontally oriented clothing bar mounted within a clothes closet for separating articles of clothing hanging upon the clothing bar within the closet, or to be hung upon the clothing bar within the closet, or to be removed from the clothing bar of the closet, by facilitating the removal or insertion of the article of clothing from the clothing closet. A separator can be interposed between a pair of adjacent articles of clothing, or conversely, a single article of clothing can be interposed between a pair of adjacent separators. Furthermore, a multiplicity of separators can effectively define a separator system within the closet wherein a separator is interposed between each pair of adjacent articles of clothing, or conversely, each article of clothing is accommodated within a separate compartment or space defined between adjacent pairs of separators. Alternatively, several articles of clothing, that is, a small group of articles of clothing, can be interposed between adjacent hanging separators.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to clothing accessories, andmore particularly to a clothing separator that can be readily hung upona horizontally oriented clothing bar mounted within a clothes closet forseparating articles of clothing hanging upon the clothing bar within thecloset, or to be hung upon the clothing bar within the closet, or to beremoved from the clothing bar of the closet. The separator effectivelyfacilitates the ease in which articles of clothing may be removed fromthe clothing bar and from the closet, or deposited onto the clothing barand into the closet, when it is desired to remove an article of clothingfrom the closet, or to insert an article of clothing into the closet. Inthis manner, the article of clothing can be readily removed from or hungupon the clothing bar of the closet with relative ease and withoutdisturbing or encountering other articles of clothing within the closetwhich would otherwise inhibit the removal or insertion of the article ofclothing from or onto the clothing bar when removing or inserting thearticle of clothing from or into the closet. A separator can beinterposed between a pair of adjacent articles of clothing, orconversely, a single article of clothing can be interposed between apair of adjacent separators. Furthermore, a multiplicity of separatorscan effectively define a separator system within the closet wherein aseparator is interposed between each pair of adjacent articles ofclothing, or conversely, each article of clothing is accommodated withina separate compartment or space defined between adjacent pairs ofseparators. Still further, a plurality of separators can be disposed atparticular locations within the closet so as to separate a plurality ofarticles of clothing, that is, a group of articles of clothing can beinterposed between a pair of separators if spatial parameters within theclothing closet permit such usage. Tab members can be attached to theseparators so as to facilitate manual separation of the separators withrespect to each other when, for example, an article of clothing is to beremoved from or inserted into the closet, or to identify particulararticles or types of clothing. The tab members may be color-coded forfacilitating, for example, types of clothing, such as, for example,shirts, suits, dresses, jackets, and the like. Still further, spacersmay be attached to adjacent pairs of separators so as to effectivelydefine the size of the space or compartment formed between the pair ofadjacent separators so as to optimally accommodate particular articlesof clothing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

When a clothes closet is full of clothes hanging in a suspended modefrom a horizontally oriented clothing bar mounted within the closet, theindividual articles of clothing are normally tightly compressed togetherwith respect to each other. This disposition of the individual articlesof clothing makes it difficult to either remove a particular article ofclothing from the array of clothing disposed within the closet, orconversely, to insert a particular article of clothing into the closetand between two articles of clothing already hanging upon the clothingbar within the closet. For example, when it is desired to remove anarticle of clothing from the clothing bar and closet, one must first tryto move those articles of clothing, disposed to the left or to the rightof the article of clothing to be removed, to one side so as toeffectively enlarge the space within which the article of clothing, thatis desired to be removed from the closet, is disposed, so as tofacilitate the removal of the particular article of clothing out fromthat space within the clothing array. When it is similarly desired toinsert an article of clothing into the closet so as to in fact hang theparticular article of clothing upon the clothing bar, the process iseffectively the same, that is, articles of clothing must be moved towardthe left or toward the right so as to effectively establish an enlargedspace in order to facilitate the insertion of the article of clothinginto the array of clothing already present within the closet.Furthermore, even when the enlarged space, for removing or inserting thearticle of clothing out from or into the closet, has effectively beenestablished, the selected article of clothing will still engage thearticle of clothing to its immediate left or to its immediate right asconsidered within the array of clothing. This engagement with orinterference between the articles of clothing also renders the removalor insertion process somewhat difficult. Still further, such engagementor interference during the removal or insertion process, as well as whenall of the articles of clothing are disposed in static hanging positionswithin the closet, can lead to undesirable creasing or wrinkling of theclothing garments.

A need therefore exists in the art for a new and improved clothingseparator that can be readily hung upon the horizontally orientedclothing bar that is mounted within the clothes closet, for separatingindividual articles of clothing, hanging upon the clothing bar withinthe closet, or to be hung upon the clothing bar within the closet, or tobe removed from the clothing bar of the closet, so as to effectivelyfacilitate the ease in which articles of clothing may be removed fromthe clothing bar and from the closet, or deposited onto the clothing barand into the closet.

OVERALL OBJECTIVES OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The overall objectives of the present invention is to provide a new andimproved clothing separator that can be readily hung upon thehorizontally oriented clothing bar that is mounted within the clothescloset, for separating individual articles of clothing, hanging upon theclothing bar within the closet, or to be hung upon the clothing barwithin the closet, or to be removed from the clothing bar of the closet,so as to effectively facilitate the ease in which articles of clothingmay be removed from the clothing bar and from the closet, or depositedonto the clothing bar and into the closet. Alternatively, a plurality ofseparators may be utilized in pairs so as to separate individualarticles of clothing by accommodating an individual article of clothingtherebetween, or still yet further, pairs of separators may be utilizedto separate a small number of articles, or a group of articles ofclothing, from the remaining articles of clothing, or from other smallnumbers of articles of clothing, present within the closet, dependingupon and to optimize spatial parameters.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed toward a new and improved clothingseparator that is to be hung upon the horizontally oriented clothing barof a clothes closet and interposed between two individual articles ofclothing hanging upon the clothing bar. The separator is preferablyfabricated from a suitable thermoplastic material, such as, for example,polyethylene terephthalate (PETE), high density polyethylene (HDPE), ora polycarbonate (PC), such that the sides or major surfaces of theseparator, disposed toward, facing, and in engagement with the articlesof clothing disposed immediately adjacent to both sides or majorsurfaces of the separator, will effectively present relatively smoothand slippery surfaces toward the articles of clothing. Accordingly, whenit is desired to remove a particular article of clothing from thecloset, or to insert a particular article of clothing into the closet,the article of clothing will effectively move or slide along one of thesmooth and slippery surfaces of the separator so as to be readily andeasily removed from or hung upon the clothing bar of the closet withrelative ease and without disturbing or encountering other articles ofclothing within the closet which would otherwise inhibit the removal orinsertion of the clothing article from or onto the clothing bar of thecloset.

It is also envisioned that a plurality of separators be interposedbetween other individual articles of clothing such that each pair ofseparators, disposed immediately adjacent to each other, effectivelydefine a pocket, recess, slot, or compartment within which a particulararticle of clothing can be readily and easily accommodated and insertedinto, or removed from, the overall clothing array disposed within thecloset, so as to be hung upon or removed from the clothing bar of thecloset. Alternatively, in lieu of a pair of the plurality of separatorsbeing disposed immediately adjacent to each other so as to effectivelydefine a pocket, recess, slot, or compartment effectively accommodatingor separating a single or particular article of clothing from theremaining articles of clothing within the closet, a plurality or smallgroup of articles of clothing may be separated from the remainingarticles of clothing within the closet and confined or interposedbetween the two separators. In other words, it may not be necessary toseparate each individual article of clothing from every other individualarticle of clothing, if spatial parameters within the closet permit,however, the overall objective of the invention may nevertheless beeffectively achieved when two separators separate groups of, forexample, two, three, or four articles of clothing from the rest of thearray of clothing disposed within the clothes closet. Tab members can beattached to the separators so as to facilitate manual separation of theseparators with respect to each other when, for example, an article ofclothing is to be removed from or inserted into the closet, or toidentify particular articles or types of clothing. The tabs may becolor-coded as may be desired. Still further, spacers may be attached toadjacent pairs of separators so as to effectively define the size of thespace or compartment formed between the pair of adjacent separators. Inthis manner, relatively smaller-sized compartments can be utilized toaccommodate shirts and trousers, whereas larger-sized spaces orcompartments can accommodate different types of dresses, such as gowns,or outer wear garments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various other features and attendant advantages of the present inventionwill be more fully appreciated from the following detailed descriptionwhen considered in connection with the accompanying drawings in whichlike reference characters designate like or corresponding partsthroughout the several views, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevational view of a new and improvedclothing separator constructed in accordance with the principles andteachings of the present invention and adapted to be utilized by beinghung from a horizontally oriented clothing bar disposed within aclothing closet so as to separate articles of clothing from each otherin order to facilitate the removal or insertion of one of the articlesof clothing from or into the clothing closet;

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing the separator,illustrated within FIG. 1, as disposed in a hanging mode from thehorizontally oriented clothing bar disposed within the clothing closet;

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing a plurality ofseparators, as illustrated within FIGS. 1 and 2, as disposed in hangingmodes from the horizontally oriented clothing bar disposed within theclothing closet such that each pair of adjacent separators defines aspace or compartment within which at least one article of clothing canbe accommodated;

FIG. 4 is a schematic exploded perspective view showing a pair ofseparators, as illustrated within FIGS. 1 and 2, wherein the separatorshave spacers adapted to be fixedly connected thereto so as toeffectively define the widthwise dimensional size of the space orcompartment defined between the pair of separators whereby theparticular size of the space or compartment can therefore accommodatedifferent articles of clothing having, for example, different bulkdimensions;

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view, similar to that of FIG. 4,wherein differently sized spacers and separators have been affixedtogether so as to in fact define differently sized spaces orcompartments for accommodating the differently sized articles ofclothing between adjacent separators; and

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view of a tab member that can beutilized in conjunction with any one of the hanging separators.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 1 thereof,a new and improved clothing separator, for separating articles ofclothing within a clothing closet, is illustrated and is generallyindicated by the reference character 100. More particularly, it is seenthat the clothing separator 100 is seen to comprise a body member 102having a substantially rectangular configuration with the oppositelydisposed long side front and rear edge portions 104 thereof disposedvertically and the oppositely disposed short side upper and lower edgeportions 106 thereof disposed horizontally. Alternatively, the separatorcan have a substantially square-shaped configuration. The separator ispreferably fabricated from a suitable thermoplastic material, such as,for example, polyethylene terephthalate (PETE), high densitypolyethylene (HDPE), or a suitable polycarbonate (PC), and it is seenthat a substantially C-shaped hook member 108 is integrally affixed toor formed with the upper edge portion 106 of the body member 102 so asto permit the clothing separator 100 to be suspendingly mounted upon ahorizontally oriented clothing bar 110 as can best be seen, for example,within FIG. 2. As a result of being fabricated from the aforenotedthermoplastic materials, such as, for example, polyethyleneterephthalate (PETE), high density polyethylene (HDPE), or a suitablepolycarbonate (PC), it can be readily appreciated that each side surfaceportion of the body member 102 of the separator 100 will effectivelyexhibit smooth and slippery surface characteristics.

Accordingly, when a clothing separator 100 is suspendingly mounted uponthe horizontally oriented clothing bar 110 within the clothes closet andinterposed between two adjacent clothing articles such that each one ofthe two adjacent clothing articles is now disposed in contact orengagement with one of the opposite disposed smooth and slipper sidesurface portions of the body member 102, the smooth and slippery sidesurface portions of the body member 102 of the clothing separator 100will effectively permit either one of the two adjacent clothing articlesto be removed from the clothing closet in a relatively easier manner,than would be the case if the clothing separator 100 was not disposed inthe clothing closet and interposed between the two articles of clothing,because each one of the clothing articles can be readily moved along arespective one of the oppositely disposed smooth and slippery sidesurface portion of the body member 102 of the clothing separator 100. Itcan therefore be further appreciated that when it is desired to remove aparticular article of clothing from the closet, or to insert aparticular article of clothing into the closet, the article of clothingwill effectively move or slide along one of the smooth and slipperysurface portions of the clothing separator 100 so as to be readily andeasily removed from or hung upon the clothing bar 110 of the closet withrelative ease and without disturbing or encountering other articles ofclothing within the closet which would otherwise inhibit the removal orinsertion of the clothing article from or onto the clothing bar of thecloset, provided, of course, if other articles of clothing, adjacent tothe article of clothing being removed from or inserted into the clothingcloset, were, for example, moved slightly in a direction away from theclothing separator.

With reference now being made to FIG. 3, it is also envisioned that aplurality of clothing separators 100 can be disposed within the clothingcloset so as to effectively form a clothing separator system which isgenerally indicated by the reference character 200. It is to be notedthat component parts of the system 200 which correspond to componentparts of separator 100 as disclosed within FIGS. 1 and 2 are denoted bysimilar reference characters except that they are in the 200 series. Theparticular number of clothing separators 100 comprising the clothingseparator system 200 can vary, it being noted that, as an ex-ample, fiveclothing separators 100 are illustrated as comprising the system 200 asillustrated within FIG. 3. As a result of the formation of the clothingseparator system 200 with a predetermined number of clothing separators100 comprising the system 200, several options are available so as toachieve the various objectives of the present invention. In accordancewith a first option, for example, the number of clothing separators 100can be such that a clothing separator 100 is interposed between eachpair of adjacent articles of clothing. In this manner, it will bereadily appreciated that each pair of clothing separators 100, disposedimmediately adjacent to each other, will effectively define a pocket,recess, slot, or compartment within which a particular article ofclothing can be readily and easily accommodated and inserted into, orremoved from, the overall clothing array disposed within the clothingcloset, so as to be hung upon or removed from the clothing bar of thecloset. Alternatively, in lieu of a pair of the plurality of clothingseparators 100 being disposed immediately adjacent to each other so asto effectively define a pocket, recess, slot, or compartmenttherebetween so as to effectively accommodate or separate a particularor single article of clothing from the remaining articles of clothingwithin the clothing closet, a second option comprising the clothingseparator system 200 may comprise the disposition of a plurality orsmall group of articles of clothing con-fined or interposed between apair of adjacent clothing separators 100 so as to separate such articlesof clothing from the remaining articles of clothing within the clothingcloset. In other words, it may not be necessary to separate eachindividual article of clothing from every other individual article ofclothing, if spatial parameters within the closet permit, however, theoverall objective of the invention may nevertheless be effectivelyachieved when two separators separate groups of, for example, two,three, or four articles of clothing from the rest of the array ofclothing disposed within the clothes closet.

With reference now being made to FIGS. 4 and 5, and in accordance withadditional structural features comprising the clothing separator system200, as has been illustrated within FIG. 3, a spacer 202 may beinterposed between a pair of adjacent clothing separators 100 andaffixed thereto by means of suitable fasteners, not shown, such that thepocket, recess, slot, or compartment, defined between an adjacent pairof clothing separators 100 can have a predetermined width dimension. Inaccordance with such objectives, it is seen, as illustrated within FIG.5, that two different spacers 202,202′, can be respectively affixed tofirst and second clothing separators 100,100′,100″ such that the spaces204,204′ respectively defined between clothing separators 100,100′ and100′,100″ have two differently sized width dimensions, space 204 havinga smaller width dimension than space 204′. In this manner, space 204 caneasily accommodate, for example, a shirt or a pair of trousers, whereasspace 204′ can easily accommodate, for example, a gown-type dress, abulky outerwear coat or other outerwear garments, or the like. As canbest be seen from FIG. 4, each one of the spacers 202,202′ effectivelycomprises a bracket having a substantially inverted L-shapedconfiguration with the vertically oriented long leg portion of theL-shaped spacer 202 being affixed to the vertically oriented rear edgeportions 104,104′ of the clothing separators 100,100′, while thehorizontally oriented short leg portion of the L-shaped spacer 202 beingaffixed to the horizon-tally oriented upper edge portions 106,106′ ofthe clothing hangers 100,100′. It is also noted that the horizontalextent of the horizontally oriented short leg portion of the L-shapedspacer 202 only extends, in the rear-to-front direction, from the rearedge portions 104,104′ up to the C-shaped hook members 108,108′. In thismanner, the spacers do not interfere with the insertion of the articleof clothing into the compartment or space 204,204′ or the hanging of thearticle of clothing upon the horizontally oriented clothing bar 210.

With reference lastly being made to FIGS. 1 and 6, it is noted that tabmembers 112 can be attached to the clothing separators 100 so as tofacilitate manual separation of the clothing separators with respect toeach other when, for example, an article of clothing is to be removedfrom or inserted into the closet, or to identify particular articles ortypes of clothing. The tabs may be color-coded as may be desired and maybe affixed to the forward upper edge portions 106 of each clothingseparator 100 by any suitable fastening means. As can best beappreciated from FIG. 6, each one of the tab members 112 may be similarin structure to the tab members which are conventionally used inconjunction with hanging files in a filing cabinet. Each one of the tabmembers 112 is seen to comprise, for example, an elongated body portionwhich is fabricated from a suitable thermoplastic material andeffectively folded in half such that the tab member 112 comprises twoplastic sheet members 114,116 which have substantially the sameconfiguration. The two plastic sheet members 114,116 are connectedtogether at a common upper edge portion 118. The lower half of the tabmember 112 is provided with a pair of oppositely disposed substantiallytriangular-shaped side edge portions 120,122 which are adapted to beinserted into slots, not shown, defined within the forward upper edgeportion 106 of each clothing separator 100, while the upper half of thetab member 112 is effectively provided with a substantially rectangularportion 124 which defines an elongated slot 126, open at both endsbetween the sheet members 114,116, so as to accommodate, for example, anameplate or the like upon which clothing identifying indicia may bedisposed. As has been noted, the tab members 112 may be color-coded, andtogether with the nameplate or other identifying indicia, individualarticles of clothing may be readily identified or grouped together. Itis also noted, as is conventional with the tab members used inconjunction with hanging files within a filing cabinet, that the upperhalf portion 124 of the tab member 112 is disposed at a predeterminedangle with respect to the lower half portion upon which the side edgeportions 120,122 are disposed, and in this manner, when two tab member112 are disposed adjacent to each other, they facilitate the spatialseparation of the clothing separators 100. Still yet further, and as isalso conventional in connection with hanging file folders, while the tabmembers 112 are shown in the drawings as being mounted upon forwardareas of the upper edge portions 106 of the clothing separators 100,they may in fact be disposed at staggered positions along the upper edgeportions 106 of the clothing separators 100 so as to further facilitatethe spatial separation of the clothing separators 100.

Obviously, many variations and modifications of the present inventionare possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to beunderstood that within the scope of the appended claims, the presentinvention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically describedherein.

REFERENCE NUMBER KEY

-   100—Clothing separator-   102—Body member of clothing separator-   104—Opposite disposed vertically oriented side edge portions of    separator-   106—Oppositely disposed horizontally oriented side edge portions of    100-   108—C-shaped hook member of clothing separator-   110—Horizontally oriented clothing bar disposed within a clothing    closet-   112—Tab member on clothing separator-   114—First sheet of tab member 112-   116—Second sheet of tab member 112-   118—Upper connecting edge portion of tab member 112-   120—First lower side edge portion of tab member 112-   122—Second lower side edge portion of tab member 112-   124—Upper half portion of tab member 112-   126—Elongated slot defined within upper portion 124 of tab member    112-   200—Clothing separator system-   202,202′—Spacers for use in system 200-   204,204′—Spaces between clothing separators 100,100′,100″

1-6. (canceled)
 7. A clothing separator system for facilitating theinsertion or removal of articles of clothing from a clothing closethaving a horizontally oriented clothing bar fixedly secured therein uponwhich articles of clothing are to be hung, comprising: at least twoclothing separators adapted to be suspendingly hung from thehorizontally oriented clothing bar of a clothes closet so as to define aspace between said at least two clothing separators for accommodating atleast one article of clothing which is also to be hung upon thehorizontally oriented clothing bar of the clothes closet; wherein eachone of said two clothing separators comprises a body member having ageometrical configuration such that oppositely disposed side surfaceportions of said body member are disposed toward articles of clothingdisposed upon opposite sides of said body member of said clothingseparator when said clothing separator is hung upon the horizontallyoriented clothing bar disposed within the clothing closet and when saidbody member is interposed between two adjacent articles of clothinghanging from the horizontally oriented clothing bar within the clothingcloset; and a hook member fixedly mounted upon said body member forhanging said clothing separator upon the clothing bar of the clothescloset; and a spacer, having a predetermined width dimension, fixedlysecured to each one of said at least two clothing separators so as toprovide said space, defined between said at least two clothingseparators, with a predetermined width dimension whereby, depending uponsaid predetermined width dimension of said spacer, said space definedbetween said at least two clothing separators by said spacer can havedifferent width dimensions so as to accommodate different articles ofclothing; whereby an article of clothing, disposed within said spacedefined between said at least two clothing separators can be easilyremoved from or inserted into the clothes closet as a result of thearticle of clothing sliding along said oppositely disposed side surfaceportions of said body members of said at least two clothing separators.8. The clothing separator system as set forth in claim 7, wherein: eachone of said body members of said at least two clothing separators isfabricated from a thermoplastic material.
 9. The clothing separator asset forth in claim 8, wherein: said thermoplastic material is selectedfrom the group comprising polyethylene terephthalate (PETE), highdensity polyethylene (HDPE), and a polycarbonate (PC).
 10. The clothingseparator system as set forth in claim 7, further comprising: a tabmember fixedly attached to each one of said body members of said atleast two clothing separators for supporting identifying indicia thereonso as to facilitate identification of articles of clothing hanging uponthe clothing bar of the clothes closet.
 11. The clothing separatorsystem as set forth in claim 7, wherein: each one of said body membershas a substantially rectangular configuration.
 12. The clothingseparator system as set forth in claim 7, wherein: each one of said bodymembers has a substantially square-shaped configuration.
 13. (canceled)14. The clothing separator system as set forth in claim 7, wherein: saidspacer comprises a bracket having a substantially inverted L-shapedconfiguration with a first leg portion of said substantially L-shapedbracket being affixed to rear edge portions of said at least twoclothing separators while a second leg portion of said substantiallyL-shaped bracket is fixed to upper edge portions of said at least twoclothing separators.